North America

DOVER, N.H. (AP) — The Democrats standing in a cold New Hampshire parking lot are desperate for change after years of Donald Trump’s turbulent presidency.

But like Democratic voters across the country, they’re grappling with a core question as they size up their party’s leading candidates just three weeks before primary voting begins: How much change is too much in 2020?

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says the Senate should simply dismiss the impeachment case against him, an extraordinary suggestion as the House prepares to transmit the charges to the chamber for the historic trial.

The president is giving mixed messages ahead of the House’s landmark vote that will launch the Senate proceedings in a matter of days, only the third presidential impeachment trial in American history. Trump faces charges that he abused power by pushing Ukraine to investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden and then obstructed Congress.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Mark Esper and other administration officials joined President Donald Trump in trying to draw attention to dissent in Iran instead of lingering questions about the scale of the threat used to justify a drone strike on Iran’s top military leader.

Esper added to the uncertainty over the intelligence behind last week’s killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani when he said Sunday that he had seen no hard evidence that four American embassies had been under possible threat. Trump said last Friday that Soleimani had been planning such an attack.

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 12 (APP): UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has extended his profound condolences to the Royal family, the Government and people of Oman on the passing away of Sultan Qaboos Bin Said.

“Sultan Qaboos led Oman for 50 years and spearheaded the transformation of Oman into a prosperous and stable country,” the Secretary-General said in a statement issued his spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric.

Sultan Qaboos, 79, passed away in Muscat on Friday night.

WASHINGTON, January 12. /TASS/: US President Donald Trump has called on the Iranian government to allow human rights groups to monitor the ongoing protests in the country, expressing support for the protesters.

"To the brave, long-suffering people of Iran: I've stood with you since the beginning of my Presidency, and my Administration will continue to stand with you. We are following your protests closely, and are inspired by your courage," he wrote on Twitter. The US leader also published a similar message in Farsi.

12 January 2020; AFP: US President Donald Trump said Saturday the United States was monitoring Iranian demonstrations closely, warning against any new "massacre" as protests broke out after Tehran admitted to shooting down a passenger plane.

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Reuters) - U.S. presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg told Reuters he is ready to spend much of his vast fortune to oust Republican President Donald Trump from the White House in 2020, rejecting criticism from rivals for the Democratic nomination that the billionaire is trying to buy the U.S. election.

LA MORA, Mexico (Reuters) - Two months after tragedy struck, beefed-up security has helped calm the holdout residents of a tight-knit community of U.S.-Mexican families of Mormon origin. But with only a few families staying put, at least one village is being hollowed out.

The gangland ambush by cartel gunmen in November on a dusty road in northern Mexico left three mothers and six children dead, their charred vehicles riddled with bullets, and a once-strong faith deeply shaken in the picturesque hamlets the families have called home for generations.

EDMONTON, Alberta (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s diplomacy was vindicated on Saturday when Iran admitted that it accidentally shot down a Ukrainian airliner as Trudeau had suggested, and his handling of the incident may increase support at home, Canadian political observers said.

The crash on Wednesday killed 176 people, including 57 from Canada. Iran insisted for days that it did not down the plane, but Trudeau said on Thursday he had received intelligence that suggested it did.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump lashed out at Democrats on Saturday over his impeachment by the House and a delayed trial in the Senate.

In a string of tweets, Trump called the impeachment a partisan "hoax," while claiming his innocence and criticizing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who initiated an inquiry in September 2019 that led to his impeachment.

"New polling shows that the totally partisan Impeachment Hoax is going nowhere. A vast majority want the Do Nothing Democrats to move on to other things now!" Trump wrote.